Ace in the Hole
by C. R. Scott
Summary: Jason Todd, the Red Hood, stares down a target in the sights of his rifle at the request of an unexpected source.  Nightwing shows up and attempts to stop him…


He wasn't doing this for revenge.

He wasn't doing this for himself.

The Red Hood looked down the sight of his sniper rifle. Jason Todd stared hard at the man he was preparing to kill and slowly licked his lips. He cradled the trigger with a soft, but steady touch. One shot was all he needed, but with hostages on the scene, he needed to be certain that he timed things just right.

Three lives were hanging in the balance.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Jason's eye never left his target.

"Batman and Robin are handling the situation. There's no need for you to do this."

The sound of a woman sobbing with terror reached his ears, her fright projected with stark clarity even from a quarter of a mile away. Her husband's desperate, panic-stricken voice was even louder, trying in vain to plead with their captor as he attempted to offer up his own life for his wife's safety.

Jason's eye narrowed as a familiar maniacal cackle echoed off the buildings.

"Don't do it, Jas—," Nightwing started to say, but his verbal attempt to stop Jason came too late. Without warning, without hesitation, the blast from the rifle cut him off mid-sentence. The elder vigilante whipped his head around as startled screams of alarm rose into the air from warehouse in the distance. With the telescopic lenses in his mask, he could clearly see one man down, lying in a growing pool of his own blood, while the two hostages were being quickly attended to by Batman and Robin.

Jason took a deep breath and released it slowly. It was finally done.

_He_ was finally done.

"How could you do that?" Dick yelled at his estranged younger brother, grabbing Jason by his jacket and turning him so that he could look him square in the eye. "How could you kill him? Bruce and Damian were right there! They would've gotten him!"

"Before he hurt anyone?"

"Of course!"

The Red Hood chuckled. "Now you're just lying to yourself." It was strange. Jason felt an odd calm wash over himself. Normally he'd be all for instigating hostile banter with his elder brother, but the heat that would require just wasn't there. He took a moment to light up cigarette after shrugging himself out of Nightwing's grasp. "Everyone knows that even when the Joker loses, he finds a way to win." He gazed at Nightwing unflinching. "That could not be allowed to happen."

"How did you even know this was even going down? Last I heard you were off on some job in Mexico with Roy and Kory."

"Alfred called me."

Dick's antagonistic, self-righteous lecturing was derailed at that revelation as Jason turned away to pack up his rifle, cigarette dangling from his lips. "Alfred? But why—?"

"Because he knew I was the only one who would do what was necessary against that monster."

The elder vigilante's disbelief was as plain as the nose on his face. "Why on Earth would _Alfred_ bring you in on this? He knew we were already on the mission to save Tim and his wife! We were handling it!"

Jason exhaled a plume of smoke. "Because no matter how good you all are, Alfred didn't want risk losing three members of his family to that murderous clown if he could help it. He sent me to be his ace in the hole."

The elder brother looked at the younger in confusion. "Three? But the Joker only kidnapped Tim and…"

Jason stared at him long and hard and eventually realization dawned on Dick's face. With a gasp, he quickly turned around to look at where Timothy Drake and his wife were wrapped up in each other's arms, clinging to one another for comfort after their horrifying ordeal. He watched with dawning comprehension as Tim's hand drifted protectively to the woman's midsection, worry etched on his face.

Jason shut his gun case with an audible snap. "And with one bullet, the day is saved and everyone wins. Not a bad night's work."

"Killing is not always the answer, Jason," Dick murmured, seeming to reiterate their father's strictest rule when it came to fighting crime in HIS city.

However, the statement only made the Red Hood grin.

"What?"

Jason pointed smugly at Dick. "If you didn't think I did the right thing, if some black little corner of your soul didn't believe the Joker FINALLY got what he deserved, you would've said 'Killing is NEVER the answer!'" Behind his mask, Jason's eyes danced with self-satisfied mirth. "Face it, Dick. Deep down, you're GLAD the Joker's dead."

Dick tried to formulate an argument against Jason's words, but try as he might, he just couldn't. He could only watch numbly as his younger brother hoisted his gun case over his shoulder.

"Well, time to head out before Daddy Bat decides to come and lecture me for offing his mortal enemy. Catch ya on the dark-side, Dickie-bird." Jason glanced over his shoulder and gave Nightwing a smug, toothy grin before slipping into the shadows, leaving echoes of laughter in his wake.

* * *

><p><strong>Author Notes:<strong>

_Final Word Count: 852_

Author Notes: In between writing my next fanfiction novella, Blade of Misfortune, and working on an original choose-your-own-adventure styled story entitled Gods vs Zombies, I've decided to write occasional flash fiction stories set in various fandoms.

(Flash fictions are any short stories equal to or under 1000 words.)

We'll see if I write any future flash fiction fanfics in the future. For now, I hope you enjoyed this tiny tale.

~C.R.


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